Everyone knows how chic riding outfits can be, horsemanship is a theme so often you used in fashion and interior design. Today I am delighted to offer you the opportunity to receive a copy of this beautiful French banner, used to illustrate an exhibition of feminine riding outfits through the years.
A dear reader of mine, the fine artist, David Terry, is most generously offering to send, as a gift, a JPEG copy of this picture to any of my readers who would like to download it and frame as a print.
David found the poster in the very chic town of Senlis, just north of Paris. He managed to procure several copies for himself and for friends who love to ride, and today he's happy to share the poster with you. It can be printed out to its original size of 12" x 16" and looks fantastic framed. If you would like David to send you the JPEG file by email, just get in touch with him here.
David's proposition came at an opportune moment as we have horses and horse riding gear on our minds here in Normandy. Since I am no longer intrepid enough to ride my thoroughbred horse Jacquard, whose habit of getting me out of the saddle at the most unexpected moments began to take the pleasure out of a ride, we may have found a more well balanced horse to take his place.
This young and elegant Quick (that's his name!) was put through his paces by my daughter this weekend, and performed beautifully. He didn't spook at noisy trucks, he was happy to jump tree trunks in the forest, and seemed totally zen about riding out alone, all the things that dear old Jacquard kicks up about.
I am off to ask David for my own copy of his poster, to inspire myself to look chic while riding high!
Thank you David, and best wishes to you all for a chic and happy week ahead.
Posts
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteL'exposition devait être intéressante à Senlis, c'est un beau musée.
Les tenues d'équitation traditionnelles étaient plus chic que maintenant ! À part la chasse à courre et le dressage où dans ces deux disciplines on porte encore une veste plutôt longue qui donne de l'élégance. Les bottes aussi comptent beaucoup, bien brillantes elles font tout de suite habillées ! Mais tout dépend de l'équitation que l'on pratique... Je viens de m'acheter des bottes espagnoles en cuir pour aller avec mon petit Hispano. Hier était un bon temps pour la ballade à cheval !
Bonne journée à toi,
Céline.
I love when you post about your horses. I too have a thoroughbred, Razzle, I no longer ride for pretty much the same reasons!. He is 25 now and enjoys his retirement as a pasture buddy to younger horses. Thanks for the lovely poster. I am ordering it!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with Quick! He sounds divine. I too no longer ride for the same reasons!!! ( is there a club we should all join?) and have a 2 beautiful pasture ornaments: a Thoroughbred and welsh pony. The poster looks beautiful. I will contact David as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Nancy
Powellbrowerhome.com
I grew up riding horses, so am always drawn to equestrian-inspired styles. The poster is lovely, as is your new horse, Quick. I do miss saddling up and hitting the trail.
ReplyDeleteDear Sharon,
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad that you can use the poster, and I'm looking forward to witnessing the number and origin of the responses.
Some points:
1. I should admit upfront that, when I first saw this poster, I mistranslated it. I'm not, in the end, remarkably interested in "fashion" or, more to the point, equestrienne fashion. My attention WAS gained, however, by a museum poster which (according to my translation) was advertising an exhibition concerning the last five centuries of varous females' pursuit of and indulgence in sexual pleasure. And,yes, I noticed the crop in the lady's right hand....."Chaqun a son gout", I thought...
My partner (who's French) reminded me that I ought to recall the root of the word "venison", rather than the unrelated, English word "Venery" (google it).
In my defense, all I had to say was that twelve years of studying/reading Lacan, Foucault, and various other French psycho-sexual authorities during gradskool had taught me a lot of "new" vocabulary terms, but the term for ladies' riding-habits hadn't been among them.
2. I should also emphasize that this poster hangs on the wall in my bathroom....so, it's the first thing I see every morning as I get up, put on my glasses, and pad into the bathroom, where I see this glacially chic, utterly poised, immaculately coifed, and unassailably aristocratic model. Then, I look in the mirror...where I see unshaven, rumple-haired, baggy-eyed, middle-aged me, and I think "Okay....the standard's already been set so high that I can be forgiven for not even really trying....". For some reason, I find that rather a comfort each morning.
Similarly?.....the first time I was invited to lunch with Catherine Deneuve at her house in Grasse (just for the record, She's longtime friends with my partner, for reasons utterly outside the movie/celebrity business; he was the attending physician, for a long while, to a dear friend of hers)?..... Well, of course I fretted over what to wear, and should I get A Really Expensive haircut (I usually cut it myself), etcetera. I was fussing and mewling over WHICH pair of pants I should wear (I think I'd frantically laid five pairs out on the hotel bed) when Herve finally informed me "Stop worrying. She's Catherine Deneuve, and you're not. She already KNOWS that. Just be reasonably clean when you arrive, and she'll probably like you."
All of which is to say I rather enjoy having the standards set so high that I can be excused from any competition.
3. My Question is: Can women actually ride in an outfit like that pictured on the left? I would assume that a woman can scarcely take a deep breath in that get-up.
Level Best as Ever,
David Terry
dterrydraw@aol.com
www.davidterryart.com
Your posts are just stunning time after time!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful horse and beautiful daughter! I can see the grass has turned that gorgeous shade of green that only spring can bring.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I've already gotten two emails asking if there's a "cost" to getting this jpeg (which is to be printed as a poster; I don't send an actual poster).
ReplyDeleteTo be very clear.....no, there is no cost (beyond your having it printed for yourself....or you can simply enjoy it as a screenn-saver)or "gimmick".... nor is the poster in any way "by" me.
So, don't worry.....I simply offered it to Sharon and her readers because I really enjoy her blog. I go to it (and three others) each morning before I start my day, and am always delighted by what she's also offered for-free.
I simply thought I ought to do something of the same kind in return for all the pleasure I've had from her blog. I don't know about your days....but mine are filled with constant loud-noise and bad news from the media.....it's good (and productive, I think) to have blogs such as Sharon's to which one can go and recall that there are many simple things worth enjoying, quite aside from all the Bad News.
So, ask away....and I'll send the jpeg.
thanks again to Sharon for creating something so lovely and maintaining it on such a regular basis.
Quite sincerely,
David Terry
www.davidterryart.com
I enjoyed your post. Looking at this museum poster about equitation brought back some souvenirs. When I was going up in France I belong to a club of equitation. I had boots and clothes as shown on the poster and a “bombe” that is what my hat was called. We need to wear them when we went on competitions. I rode every Sunday morning with the doctors and vets of the area (near Enghien-les-Bains.) I am talking about the late 1950s when I was a teenager. I still have my black boots and bombe hat. Senlis – c’est une bonne idée – il faudra que j’y fasse un tour la prochaine fois que je visite ma famille à Paris, ce n’est qu’à 50 kms au plus.
ReplyDeleteQuick is beautiful. Drop. Dead. Beautiful. It sounds like he has a great mind to go along with it -- Ya-hoo! Hope to see you back in the saddle soon! (Spooky mounts are no fun)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderfully generous offer, I will be sure to email David Terry. And I hope your new horse will be the perfect riding companion.
ReplyDeleteKat
I have enjoyed discovering your blog recently.
ReplyDeleteWe, too, have enjoyed ponies and thoroughbreds at our home. Our kids enjoyed years of Pony Club, rallies, and games days. And as for me? I discovered a profound respect for gravity (as you may have, too!) and elected to enjoy the ponies at ground level.
A great offer, I've emailed David. Quick looks lovely.
ReplyDelete